Woman sentenced to prison for 2019 fatal Rock Falls stabbing

WHITESIDE Co., Ill. (KWQC) - A Rock Falls woman was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison for the 2019 stabbing death of 53-year-old Tracy A. Russell.

Nichole Elesser, 48, must serve 100% of the sentence but will receive credit for 1,144 days already served in Whiteside County Jail, according to court records. Once she is released, she will serve three years of mandatory supervised release.

She was convicted of first-degree murder in August.

According to deputies, just after 1:20 a.m. Dec. 15, 2019, the Whiteside County 911 Center received a report of a stabbing in the 22000 block of Brooks Road in rural Rock Falls.

Officers found Russell dead on the front porch, deputies said. An autopsy conducted the next day determined he died from multiple stab wounds.

Whiteside County detectives along with Illinois State Police investigators and the Whiteside County Coroner’s Office launched an investigation into Russell’s death.

On Dec. 17, 2019, Elsesser was charged with first- and second-degree murder. The second-degree murder charge was later dismissed.

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